CTP: Interventions for ensuring TB Free workplace

What’s inside:

Read this Chapter to learn - What a TB Free Workplace means and how to implement TB Free workplace.

Page: 1 What is a TB Free Workplace?

An Overview: ‘TB Free Workplace’ is an organization with adequate model and policies for prevention and control of TB by integrating awareness, health education and service delivery with existing systems, structures and resources, and by taking cognisance of their business agendas thus by reducing the burden of TB inside the organization.

A TB Free Workplace will have supportive environment and provisions where employees including contractual workers:

• Have easy access to information and services on TB and employees/ worker feel confident to utilize these services;
• Periodic Intensive Case Finding, workers having active TB is identified early and is put on treatment;
• Provisions are in place to support treatment adherence with job security;
• There is no discrimination either based on real or perceived TB status of workers;
• Favourable policy/guidelines are in place to protect rights of TB patients and
• No or Low TB incidence among workers are being report in last one year.

The goal is to implement a comprehensive program on TB prevention and care inside the organization.

Industries can help India's TB outcomes by enabling access to early detection, diagnosis, and high-quality care and treatment services by investing in the health of their own workforce.

Key activities for implementing TB Free workplace:

• Setting up Workplace committee or nominating a focal point 
• Training of master trainers followed by implimenting training on TB to all the employees through the master traininers
• Awareness Generation by circulating communication materials on TB
• Organizing periodic screening for TB
• Facilitating treatment support to identified TB patients, ensuring all the TB patients are put on treatment
• Counselling services for treatment adherence and linkages with government
• Monitoring, Documentation and Reporting
• TB in HR induction

The image below will provide a 360⁰ view of how a TB free workplace should be:

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Read this page to know about the TB Free workplace commitee

Forming a TB Free workplace committee

TB Free workplace committee (Recommendations):

1.For Large scale organizations (with more than 500 employees) - 

Members: TB Free workplace committee is an internal committee formed with the following members:

• Chairperson of the organisation – Chair of the Committee
• Key administration staffs
• Head of HR department
• Medical Officer of the organization
• Representatives from employees
• District TB Officer as the invited member (if necessary)

In case if organization is having a Health committee, TB can be actively integrated into the existing system.

2. For Small scale organizations (less than 500 employees and not having a health commitee)-  Nominate an administrative staff for being the nodal officer, and periodic reporting of TB prevention and control activities that are carried out in the organization to the administrative board of the organization. 

Functions of the TB Free committee: A TB Free committee will be functioning as the pivot point for all the TB related activities of the organization such as:

• Forming and implementing a TB Free workplace policy.
• TB Awareness and Trainings supervision:
  
  • Ensuring TB awareness through the official communications (mails, messages, posters, and other means) to reach all its employees.
  • Identifying employee representatives as master trainers to educate peers on TB
  • Allocating schedules for trainings on TB to its workforce.
  • Workplace against TB related Stigma / Discrimination campaigns. 
• TB Screening and testing supervision:
  
  • Organizing TB screening and diagnosis camps periodically and ensuring the attendance of all its employees in the camp.
• ​​​​​​​TB Treatment & Nutrition support:
• Ensure patient is undertaking prompt treatment.
• Ensuring Zero Stigma and discrimination in the organization.
• Provision of nutrition support to employee from underprivileged category
• Ensure HR support to employee diagnosed with TB by providing sick leave / paid leave during the treatment period.
• Allot flexible work hours during the recovering period. Consider provision of work from home if the circumstances allow.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
• Monitoring and evaluating the TB prevention and control activities.
• Human Resource department: Integrating TB in HR induction

Promoting treatment support groups for physiological support & ensuring zero stigma and discrimination inside the organization

Page 3: Checklist for a TB Free Work Place

The implementation of a checklist will be ensuring that all the TB prevention and control activities are being carried out at the workplace. Following is a TB Free work place checklist model:

TB work place policy by the Corporate Organizations:

Workplace policies should be developed in a participatory manner with the active involvement of senior management and representatives of workers.

Key principles for developing a workplace policy:

• Recognition of TB as workplace issue
• Bipartite approach (working with management and worker’s representatives)
• Gender equality       
• Protection of the rights of workers
• Non-discrimination
• Confidentiality  
• Continuation of employment
• Prevention
• Treatment, care and support

Benefit of an ideal TB Free workplace policy:

• Commitment to corporate action
• Guarantees adherence to pertinent national laws and regulations on TB care
• States a standard of behaviour for all employees (whether infected or not);
• Provides guidance to supervisors and managers;
• Enables workers diagnosed with TB to understand the support and care they will receive, increasing the likelihood that they will adhere to the appropriate treatment.
• Helps to control the spread of TB in the workplace
• Assists the organization in planning for TB prevention and control, which ultimately results in cost savings.

Models of TB Free Workplace policies:

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 Policies and Guidelines related to TB in Workplace:

From the Government and the ILO :

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TB Free Workplace Strategies Developed by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in partnership with The Union. (2017) (Click here for link) 

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Policy framework released by Ministry of Labour & Employment, Govt. of India (2019).Refer: Policy_Framework_MoLE2019